Ridgewood and Bushwick will be the next battlegrounds in the Health Department’s ongoing war on disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Parts of Ridgewood straddling the Brooklyn/Queens border and all of Bushwick will undergo pesticide spraying scheduled to take place at 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, Aug. 22, and continuing until 6 a.m. the following morning. (In the event of inclement weather, the spraying will take place on Wednesday night, Aug. 23, during the same hours.)
The spray zone includes the Ridgewood/Bushwick area generally bounded on the north by Flushing Avenue; on the east by St. Nicholas Avenue, Bleecker Street, Irving Avenue, Cooper Avenue and Cypress Avenue; on the south by the Jackie Robinson Parkway and Jamaica Avenue; and on the west by Broadway. The zone extends into many Brooklyn neighborhoods including Bedford-Stuyvesant, East Williamsburg, Fort Greene and Williamsburg.
All summer long, the Health Department has been spraying parts of the city with pesticide hoping to control the population of mosquitoes that may carry the West Nile virus, which was first detected in New York City in 1999. This area was chosen of spraying due to a reported increase in infected mosquitoes in the area.
Trucks will go around each neighborhood spraying Anvil 10 + 10, which is safe for humans when properly used. Even so, exposure may aggravate symptoms for those with respiratory conditions such as asthma, so the Health Department advises all residents to remain indoors with the windows closed during spraying. Air conditioners may be used, but the vents should be closed.
Anything left outside during spraying — including clothing, children’s toys and other equipment — should be thoroughly washed with soap and water before reuse. If you are outside during spraying, wash any exposed skin or clothing with soap and water.
For more information, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/health.
